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Milk production during the start of the milking season in New Zealand has continued to perform strongly, with July to September supplies up almost 6% on last year.
According to figures from Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, a total of 358m kg of milk solids were produced from July to September, an increase of 180,000kg on 2017. This follows a strong winter milk production period during which supplies were up 12%.
While Irish dairy farms begin to enter the winter period, New Zealand farmers are approaching peak production. Last year, milk solid production peaked at 254m kg in October.
In September, milk solids finished at 219m kg, over 120,000kg ahead of the same time last year.
Price pressure
The increased production from New Zealand has seen dairy commodity prices come under pressure. The latest Global Dairy Trade auction recorded a small price index drop of 0.3% to US $2,885/t.
It is the fifth auction in a row to record a negative outcome. The index price has fallen by 15% since June.
Irish milk supplies also increased through September, up 10%. Announcing the Glanbia September milk price, Glanbia chair Martin Keane said this surge in supply coinciding with “a very strong start to the New Zealand milk production season”. This he said resulted in reduced forecast milk prices.
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